2008 Subaru Impreza WRX

Before the WRX went on sale in the United States in 2001, Subarus appealed more to the Whole Foods crowd than to car enthusiasts. Yet the little turbocharged sedan and wagon changed that perception and have been a real hit with kids of all ages, selling 94,000 copies since March 2001-or 40 percent of total Impreza sales.

That's not to say that the outgoing WRX was perfect. The rear quarters were cramped, the interior quality was a decade behind the times, and the car didn't feel very solid, with doors that clanged shut.

And as we discovered after comparing the WRX with four other sub-$25,000 fun rides ["Power Toys," May 2007], what seemed hot in 2001 has cooled considerably with the passing of the years. The Subie ended up last in that comparo, although it might have done better had it been equipped with performance tires.

The 2008 Impreza WRX addresses many of the concerns we had with the previous model. For starters, it's bigger, at 180.3 inches long (up 4.5 inches). The wheelbase is expanded from 99.4 to 103.1 inches, and the car is 1.4 inches taller, at 58.1 inches. Width (68.5 inches) is unchanged, but hip and shoulder room have improved, and there are now 95 cubic feet of interior space, compared with 88. Despite this expansion, the Subaru weighs in at 3200 pounds, exactly the heft of the last WRX we tested.

The new car's interior is improved with higher-grade materials, even if soft-touch pieces are in short supply. The WRX has nicely supportive front sport seats and rear pews that regular-size adults no longer need dread. (Linebackers, however, need not apply.) Our test car was fitted with an optional Premium package that ordinarily includes a 100-watt, 10-speaker stereo with an in-dash six-CD changer; an auxiliary input jack; and heated front seats. Order the navigation system, however, and one ends up with a single-CD player. Base WRXs come with an 80-watt stereo and CD player, automatic climate control, keyless entry, steering-wheel-mounted cruise-control and audio buttons, and curtain airbags.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, something went awry with the exterior styling. Although the original car was hardly the Halle Berry of automotive beauty, the 2008 Impreza is from the Hieronymus Bosch School. The Premium package includes an aero styling kit-front-lip and trunklid tail spoilers and side skirts-that's akin to adding makeup to a toad.

Under the unattractive skin, the WRX gets some major upgrades. The 2.5-liter horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine remains essentially the same, except that a new intercooler, intake manifold, and turbocharger result in the power and torque being delivered at lower revs. Maximum power remains at 224 horsepower, now available at 5200 rpm (previously 5600 rpm), and the 226 pound-feet of torque are produced at 2800 rpm instead of 3600. Also carried over are the five-speed manual and four-speed automatic gearboxes.

The old WRX used a strut-type suspension all-around, which is retained at the front. At the back, there is now a control-arm setup that Subaru says has liberated some trunk room. Although the luggage space has increased officially by 0.3 cubic feet (to 11.3), it is considerably more usable. Manual-transmission WRXs get a center differential with a viscous coupling to provide limited-slip control for their all-wheel-drive systems; with the automatic, they get a planetary-gear center diff.

Other than the greatly increased interior space, the first thing that strikes one about the new WRX is how civilized it has become. Wind, engine, and tire noise are more muted, and the ride is a huge improvement, almost cushy on broken pavement. The increased thrust at lower revs means that top-gear passing performance is sharper, with the 30-to-50-mph increment now taking 10.7 seconds (down from 11.0) and the 50-to-70-mph mark improving from 9.0 seconds to 7.3. In practice, it means the driver no longer has to shift down two gears to get past that pesky semi on a back road. The shifter retains the old WRX's rubbery feel.

Although the WRX is much more usable in everyday driving, it has lost the raw edge it used to have while tearing up back roads. Sure, the steering is accurate and nicely weighted, and the handling is faithful, with mild understeer under power and controllable lift-throttle oversteer when readjusting in the middle of a turn. But the mud-and-snow-rated Bridgestones squirm around like a presidential candidate under hard questioning, and the car has more cornering roll than we'd like.

So it's a different kind of WRX. It's softer, more rounded, and may be more palatable to more people, but it feels like a sportier sedan rather than a rally car for the road. Subaru says it was aiming to broaden the WRX's appeal and leave the more expensive zooted-up STI as the hard-core choice. Plus, Subaru adds, the engine is as tunable as before, and there will be suspension parts and wheel-and-tire packages galore on the aftermarket to satisfy the existing fan base. But we wonder how many of the WRX faithful will bother to tune this car, because it has strayed from its competition-derived roots. We suspect they will transfer their affections to the STI or other brands.

MORGAN SEGAL

Subaru has done a wonderful job of re-creating the Toyota Camry. Gone is the low-budget, no-frills rally car of yore, and in its place is a pleasantly sedate car your mother will love. As a WRX owner, I am a bit disappointed that the '08 car has become soft, insulated, and rather dull. I hope the STI will uphold the WRX reputation.

BARRY WINFIELD

You can't blame a car company for exploiting contemporary technology to improve refinement and isolation, but in the case of the new WRX, you have to consider the possibility that this car's increased isolation and maturity are part of a deliberate brand strategy--one that makes the '08 WRX more of an Impreza GT than it does an identifiable successor to that once-removed rally car. But fans of the old WRX need not grieve--there's a new STI on the horizon.

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